A Day In the Overland
by Arch1medes
Summary: Gregor and Luxa's date on Christmas in New York City. Oneshot.


**Sorry guys, I guess this did take a little longer than I thought. I ended up altering the ending a bit. I hope you like it! Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays to all of you! **

_A DAY IN THE OVERLAND_

When the rock was moved, a silvery light lit up the room. It was unlike the Regalian torchlight, flickering and dull, and the jungle light, red hot and warm; No, this silvery light had a lust about it, sophisticated and serene. Stepping in to it, she felt it wash over her, leaving her mind blank.

Luxa could have stood there forever, taking in the feeling of that light, but something slipped in to her hand, intertwining itself between her fingers. Opening her eyes, she realized that it was Gregor. His chocolate eyes and pure white smile brought her back to reality, and was the biggest reason why she couldn't stand there forever.

"Come on, Luxa." He said. "I want you to see this."

Leading her to the cave opening, Gregor pointed up through the exit. When Luxa looked up, she saw little dots sprinkled across the dark blue air above them.

"What are those… things?" She asked, saying the last word uncertainly. She had picked it up from Gregor a few weeks ago, but still wasn't familiar with the word quite yet.

Putting his arm over her shoulders, he leaned down and whispered in her ear,

"Those are stars, Luxa." Luxa still didn't understand.

"Stars?"

"They're like this, Luxa." He said. "Our planet, but different sizes, and really far away."

"Are they all white?"

"No, it just looks like it. You see…" Gregor stopped himself, realizing there were more important things to do.

"I'll explain later. Here, come on. There are a few things I want to show you."

"What are they?" Luxa asked. Gregor just smiled and led her out of the whole, and into the world above.

"It's…" Luxa said, looking up at the colossal Christmas tree in Rockefeller Plaza.

"So bright!" Luxa couldn't hold back the childish affection for the tree.

"What is it you celebrate with this?" Luxa asked, wondering what could possibly motivate people do decorate the large tree.

"Oh, well, it's because of the birth of Jesus. He was a prophet, kind of like Sandwich, in a way."

The analogy served its purpose, and understanding shown through on Luxa's angelic face, but there was something other on her face… something sad.

"Luxa?" Gregor asked tentatively. "Is something wrong?" Luxa looked at Gregor, and after a few seconds, the sadness left her expression.

"No," she said, as her gloved hand tightened her grip on his hand. "Not as long as I'm with you, Gregor."

Gregor couldn't help but smile as big as his face would allow. After many long, miserable years, he had seen Luxa again, and even brought her to the Overland.

"And I with you, Luxa." He said, leaning down and kissing her.

"You know, Luxa," Gregor said, his mischievous grin appearing on his face.

"Do you want to try something?"

The look on Luxa's innocent face almost made Gregor break down laughing.

"Ok, but you have to trust me, alright?" Luxa smiled, and squeezed Gregor's hand.

"Ok!" She said with a bright white smile.

It took about thirty minutes for them to get out on the ice to skate; mostly because of the long line of people. Ice skating was always one of the most popular things to do in New York at Christmas, and for good reason. There was nothing as fun, or as romantic as ice skating at Christmas time, and it was a thing you had to do if you were in a relationship, which, at the current time, Gregor was.

When Gregor checked out ice skates, he scouted out for a bench where they could sit down. After an eternity of searching, he found one, and sat down, Luxa not long behind him. When Gregor slipped off his shoes and replaced them with the ice skates, he saw Luxa had not even moved.

She was a bit skeptical about her new shoes. "They have knives on the bottom?" she asked.

"No Luxa!" Gregor laughed. "Gosh, no. They're just sharpened for traction so you can move across the ice! Watch, I'll show you when we get out there."

After getting Luxa situated, they slid themselves over to the ice, and got up.

"All right Luxa, are you ready?" he asked. Seeing the determination in Luxa's eyes was yes enough, so they got started.

Gregor stood a little behind Luxa, off to the side, and putting an arm around Luxa's waist, slowly pushed them forward. "See, Luxa?" Gregor said, methodically placing one foot in front of the other, moving them along the edge of the rink. "You have to kind of push yourself forward, and move inwards to the side you want to turn on." Luxa nodded. "Can I try it?" She asked, getting herself ready.

"Of course; just let me give you some space." Gregor slid himself away about two feet. This way, he would be able to catch her if she fell.

Luxa was timid at first, arms out to her sides to balance herself. She stepped into a movement, and stopped. Stepped into a movement, and then stopped. She did this a few more times before continuously moving around the rink, where Gregor could skate alongside her.

Luxa took to skating like a natural, spinning and skating backwards; she even pulled off some acrobatic moves she learned during her training with Mareth. Luxa was so fluid, she might have been able to out lap Gregor, and he was a New Yorker!

Seeing that Luxa could look after herself on the rink, Gregor slid to a stop at the edge, and watched her glide across the ice, like she had been skating since she could walk. Luxa did a few more acrobatics before she simmered down, and skated around, probably looking for Gregor. Chuckling to himself, Gregor skated up behind her, and tapped her right shoulder, moving to her left. Probably hearing the sound of his skates, Luxa looked to her left and grabbed Gregor's wrist before he could stealthily skate away.

"What are you doing?" Luxa asked, a smile forming upon her face.

"Just teasing my brilliant girlfriend." Gregor replied, wriggling out of her grip, and holding her hand.

They had just skated aimlessly around for about five minutes, when Luxa asked,

"Gregor, can we dance with these 'ice shoes'?" When Gregor looked at her face, and saw how perplexed she was, he couldn't help himself from laughing.

"Do not laugh at me!" Luxa tried to say sternly, but she couldn't remain mad at Gregor, and ended up laughing as well. She couldn't help it; Gregor's laugh was contagious.

Finally calming down, Gregor answered her. "Yeah, I guess we can." Then, pulling her out to the middle of the rink, and tapping her nose, he said, "If you can keep up, that is."

Luxa smiled competitively. "We'll see who keeps up with whom!"

Even if they were a couple, Gregor and Luxa were rivals, and had been since they met; they couldn't, even after all these years, shake off a competition.

At first, they were out of sync, and at one point, Gregor did a different dance than Luxa, and just fell down to the ice, gently pulling her down with him. Laughing, Gregor got up and helped Luxa. But before she moved away, she stood on the tips of her skates (toes) and whispered in his ear,

"Let us do our first dance," She said, her breath full of emotion and eloquence. "Remember, you? At Hazard's birthday celebration?" Gregor smiled, and tilted his head slightly to whisper in her ear, "How could I forget?" Luxa leaned back down on her feet, and looked up at Gregor, before stepping back. Gregor could not help but see the different look in Luxa's eyes; it wasn't sadness, but it was closer to sadness than it was happiness.

Bowing down, like in the dance, Gregor hummed the melody so he could keep up with the beat when they actually started. When the words started in his head, Gregor went entirely by memory to the dance, and had just spun Luxa around when they were supposed to switch partners. The pair was able to dance around the rink, quickly drawing a crowd. All of the people that had been skating before stood off to the edges, so they could not interrupt the dance that the couple was performing.

Gregor looked at Luxa's eyes when they danced, not even paying attention to the footwork, or the crowd that had amassed. No, he paid attention to Luxa, the love of his life. For some reason, however, she was avoiding eye contact with him, even thought she would try to look at him when she thought he wasn't looking.

"What's wrong?" he wanted so desperately to ask her. "What did I do?"

As if in response, Gregor noticed a feeling coming on to him, something about the dance. When he was able to put a finger on it, and name the feeling, Gregor became somewhat uneasy. He realized that this dance meant so much more than just a thing to do as a date; it symbolized him and Luxa, and their gradual expanding relationship over his year of adventures in the Underland, and the metamorphosis of that relationship into something new, something special, something important; something that they both needed, and oh so desperately wanted. The dance, which spurred on that change during Hazard's Birthday party, had such a monumental affect on them later on that they had both failed to realize its importance until this moment. This dance was the symbol of their love, and would be, forever.

Gregor finished off the dance by bowing to Luxa for the final time, and found out that he had involuntarily kneeled before Luxa. The crowd burst into applause and cheers, realizing that the dance was over. Gregor stood again on his skates, and took Luxa's hand, leading them off of the ice.

Back on a bench inside, Gregor tapped Luxa's shoulder. She didn't even look over. "Luxa?" he asked concern evident in his voice. "What's wrong?"

Luxa froze, her head turned almost completely away from Gregor, so he could only see the outline of her cheekbone. Gregor was about to try asking again, until he saw something glisten over Luxa's cheekbone. A tear. It had to be a tear.

So, instead of being a boyfriend that he knew couldn't fix this situation, he tapped Luxa's shoulder again, and when she responded on reflex, he gently cradled her chin, and pulled her lips to his. He closed his eyes when he kissed her, not wanting to see her sad eyes, but wanting to enjoy the fact that Luxa, the girl he loved since he was twelve, was finally here in the Overland, fulfilling the conversation they had on the boat during the voyage to find the baby Bane.

Gregor could feel Luxa try to resist at first, but after a second or two, she started kissing him back. When they had to break for breath, Gregor didn't open his eyes, he couldn't; instead he hugged her, whispering in her ear, "I will always be here for you, Luxa. Always. Forever. No matter what, I will be here for you." Gregor could feel the slight sound break away from Luxa's lips, on what sounded kind of like a sob. "I love you, Luxa." Gregor finished, and lightly squeezed her, before moving away. Luxa clung on to him, though, refusing to let Gregor go. "Luxa?" He asked softly. "Luxa?"

"I love you." Luxa said before she let go. "I love you, too."

Back on the streets again, Luxa never let go of Gregor's hand, always standing beside him. Gregor constantly thought about what had brought on her unusual action at the ice rink, but couldn't come up with any ideas. Gregor realized that he was starting to get a little hungry, so he watched Luxa for a bit, and saw she was starting to get a little edgy, making her seem hungry as well. So, Gregor stopped at food vendor before they left Times Square and bought them something his sisters loved: Churros.

Luxa was suspicious of the food at first, but when she saw Gregor bite off a piece, she took it upon herself to copy him. The taste that she had was sweet at first, and then when she bit into the bread, it was warm, the taste mixing perfectly with the sugar.

"It is… sweet." Luxa said, stating her observation after she swallowed her first bite. Gregor chuckled, taking another bite out of his. When he finished chewing, he said, "Yeah Boots and Lizzie love these too, so I thought you would like to try them. Pretty good, huh?" Luxa nodded quickly, and took another bite out of her churro.

Finally, when it was really starting to get cold outside, Gregor took Luxa back to his apartment building, and up into his families' apartment. Almost immediately when they opened the door, a loud, "Surprise!" echoed out from Gregor's family, standing in front of the artificial Christmas tree Gregor had gotten with money he hoarded from the museum.

Gregor laughed. "Hey guys! Wow this is really nice!" Gregor complimented. "Who put up the lights for the tree?" he asked.

"We did!" Boots said, holding Lizzie's hand. "We did!" Lizzie laughed lightly.

"Yeah, Boots! You did a great job!" Boots jumped and laughed. She was still only five, so she got a big kick out of decorating for Christmas.

Grace walked up to Luxa, who stood with Gregor, still holding his hand.

"Hey, Luxa?" Grace asked, timidly. "Can I talk to you in the kitchen for a second?" Gregor pretended like he didn't hear what his mother said, but he couldn't help but be wary of what she might tell Luxa in the kitchen. However, if he interjected, that would ruin the happy atmosphere in the home that they had just barely captured over the past year. He didn't want to ruin that for his sisters. Besides, Luxa could hold her own, more than anyone else he knew.

In the kitchen, Grace leaned up against the counter, finding a sudden interest in her shoes. Luxa walked in after her, wondering why her boyfriend's overprotective mother would have to say to her.

"Luxa, I-" Grace bit her lip. "I, wanted to… thank you, for protecting Gregor all these years." Luxa looked at Grace, who had been so adamant for Gregor to not go down to the Underland repeatedly, admit that it may have been beneficial for his trials there.

"You need not thank me," Luxa said softly. "We both wish to protect Gregor, so should we not work together?" Grace looked up at Luxa, thanksgiving in her eyes.

"No, you're right; we should work together." Grace walked forward and opened her arms to Luxa. "Besides, I could always use another daughter." She said with a smile.

Luxa found that she had turned bright red. The thought of marriage to Gregor had crossed her mind a few times before, but never had someone else led on to it. At least recently.

Luxa awkwardly moved in to Grace's arms, and hugged her back. She could honestly say that she was not accustomed to this kind of affection, even from Vikus.

When Grace pulled away, Luxa thanked her. "What for?" Grace asked.

"For raising Gregor the way you did." Luxa said. "He is truly amazing, Grace. I do not know what my life would be without him, but it would certainly not be for the better."

Grace smiled. "That's all Gregor. I hate to not take the credit, but he was always like this."

Luxa smiled. "But someone must protect him, because he is bound to do something reckless!" Grace chuckled.

"It seems like his style, doesn't it?"

The two laughed, and walked back in to the living room. Gregor looked up at both of them, looking for signs of how the conversation went. When they saw his cautious look, neither Luxa nor Grace could stop themselves from breaking in to laughter.

Once all of the gifts were opened, and the happiness had, Gregor's family went to bed, leaving Luxa and Gregor out in the living room of the apartment. They had sat on the couch and cuddled for a few hours, watching early morning sitcoms on CBS. Gregor couldn't stop grimacing at how bad the humor was on some of the jokes, and Luxa just looked confused most of the times, making Gregor laugh genuinely.

"What is it?" Luxa asked, somewhat frustrated that he hadn't answered her question she had asked dozens of times already. "Why do you keep laughing?"

"Because you're funny, Luxa." Gregor said, squeezing her with his arm.

"Hey," Gregor said, checking his watch. "Can I show you one last thing?" It was almost seven in the morning already, which meant sunrise, would be going on pretty quickly.

"Here, come on," he said, taking her hand, and pulling her out the door, grabbing their coats on the way.

Luxa gave up on protesting, and just followed Gregor up flights of stairs, starting to shiver as they got higher.

"Luxa?" Gregor said, stopping at a ladder leading to the ceiling. Luxa couldn't help but stare at him; this boy who had done so much for her and her people. He looked so normal, but he was handsome, with his cute brown eyes and full red lips, and muscular tones. When he moved, she started slightly, wondering what he was doing. When he was only inches away from her, he kissed her forehead, and draped her coat over her shoulders, along with his own. "Be careful," he said, still in the same place. "It's very cold outside."

With that, he climbed up the ladder, and opened the hatch at the top. Luxa climbed up shortly after, standing on the roof of Gregor's apartment building. It was so high up! From there, you could see everything from such a high view; it reminded Luxa of the High Hall, and seeing Regalian people looking the size of insects.

It was still rather dark outside, and Luxa was quizzical as to why Gregor had brought her up to the roof just to sit in the dark.

"Gregor?" She said, sliding her cold fingers in between his. "Why did you bring me up here?" Gregor simply smiled, saying, "It's almost here. Look between those two skyscrapers there, and you'll see." Luxa stood next to Gregor, hand in hand, and watched as the giant fiery star rose in the sky, creating vivid shades of reds, oranges, and yellows, that burst across the now light sky. Luxa gasped at the beauty of the scene, and cupped her hands over her mouth. "Beautiful," she said, in astonishment.

"Not as beautiful as you," Gregor said, taking her hands, and leaning his forehead down on hers. "Not nearly." Luxa sensed a nervousness in his voice, and, before she could ask what was wrong, he took a deep, shaky breath.

"Okay…" he muttered.

"Luxa," he said, speaking loudly this time. "You are the smartest, bravest, most beautiful girl I know. You have saved me so many times from so many things," he chuckled a little bit. "I can't even count them. But you were there for me when I needed you, no matter what my parents or the council said. Luxa," Gregor said, getting down on one knee.

"I love you more than anything in this world, and I will protect you from anything and everything until the day I die. I will stand beside you and help you through anything, so, Luxa… please marry me."


End file.
